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LibreOffice

LibreOffice

Overview

What is LibreOffice?

LibreOffice is a free and open-source Office Suite from The Document Foundation, presented as the successor to OpenOffice.org. The suite includes Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula editing).

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Recent Reviews

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LibreOffice has gained popularity among users and organizations as a cost-effective alternative to Microsoft Office. Its functional …
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A Viable Alternative

9 out of 10
January 31, 2019
Incentivized
I have used LibreOffice (and its code predecessors, StarOffice and OpenOffice) since 2000. Compatibility with MS Office has improved over …
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Pricing

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What is LibreOffice?

LibreOffice is a free and open-source Office Suite from The Document Foundation, presented as the successor to OpenOffice.org. The suite includes Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula…

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.libreoffice.org/download/do…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Product Demos

libreoffice calc insert pictures

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LibreOffice Online short development demo

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fuzzing LibreOffice input events with american fuzzy lop

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Converting 0/1 values to TRUE/FALSE in LibreOffice Calc

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Demo: Creating CMS Content in LibreOffice

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libreoffice calc simple table format

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Product Details

What is LibreOffice?

LibreOffice is a free and open-source Office Productivity Suite from The Document Foundation, presented as the successor to OpenOffice.org. LibreOffice is compatible with a wide range of document formats such as Microsoft® Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx) and Publisher. LibreOffice also provides native support for the open standard, the Open Document Format (ODF). Work can also be exported in many different formats, including PDF.

The suite includes Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula editing). It is available in an installed edition (available in Windows, Mac OS, and Linux versions), through mobile apps for Android and iOS.

LibreOffice Applications


LibreOffice Writer - Word Processor
Writer's features are aimed at presenting an open source alternative to Microsoft Word of the Microsoft 365 Office Suite. It is a word processor and desktop publishing solution. It is described by its developers and power users as able to support the creation of a book with diagrams, indexes, and illustrated content. Writer also includes typical word processor features such as various fonts, page layout and editing tools, and an autocorrect library. Writer also can be extended with templates, and comes with Wizards to help the user through more advanced workflows (e.g. mail merges). Common complex documents are supported with templates by default, and more niche forms may have templates available through extensions created by the supporter community.

LibreOffice Calc - Spreadsheet
A free spreadsheet program designed to be easy to use but able to support more advanced calculations , with wizards to guide the user through some commonly needed advanced number crunching and report generation. Calc includes a Scenario Manager to perform "what if..." analyses, and a solver component that enables the user to find optimum value of a particular spreadsheet given constraints appearing in other cells. Also, its "DataPilot" features lets Calc pull raw data from exogenous data sources, and also integrate real-time data streams.

LibreOffice Impress - Presentations
Impress lets users create slides, similar to PowerPoint, presenting a free alternative to the popular presentation tool. Impress can also be used for diagramming, or for creating and displaying drawings. Its Fontworks tool also lets users create and insert 2D and 3D images into presentations. Impress supports working with multiple monitors, and users can share slide notes, operate a presentation slider, etc.

LibreOffice Draw - Graphics
The LibreOffice suite also includes a graphics and diagramming tool. Draw also is designed to be relatively simple to use for quick sketches but also is able to support more advanced technical drawings, or brochures and the like that might be used to support marketing activities. Users can also work with existing graphical objects, using LibreOffice Draw as an editing tool with cropping, grouping, etc.

LibreOffice Base - Database
Base is designed to meet a range of enterprise DB requirements, and natively includes drivers for popular used database engines, such as MySQL, MS Access, and PostgreSQL. It includes JDBC- and ODBC- built-in support, to extend its versatility and enable Base to be connected to virtually any database. Wizards are present for help with database design, and it includes pre-defined tables for common use cases (e.g. sales orders, asset tracking, etc.).

LibreOffice Math - Formula Editor
Math is a standalone formula editor that can be used to generate formulae for presentations, spreadsheets, and word processors. Users can work with a range of elements with a pure focus on the math.

LibreOffice Charts - Charts & Visualizations
Similar to Math, LibreOffice also allows the user to work with charts in a freeform way, focusing on style, color, size, etc. across a variety of pie charts, bar charts, trend graphs, or 3D charts, so that the user can focus on perfecting its style before putting the chart on display in whatever presentation, drawing, or document its destined for.


LibreOffice is supported by an active community, FAQ, and documentation from The Document Foundation. Also, LibreOffice tutorials are plentiful and found online in video format. While The Document Foundation does not provide commercial support directly for enterprises, they do maintain a certification program for trainers, developers, and professional consultancies that do wish to provide premium support for LibreOffice implementations and on-going supports. Also, while LibreOffice is an installed option, a cloud-based service based on LibreOffice is available through Collabora Online, a SaaS based on the LibreOffice Office Suite that is available in a browser.

LibreOffice Videos

LibreOffice is a free, fully-featured and open source office suite used by millions of people around the world. Download it from https://www.libreoffice.org Support us: https://www.libreoffice.org/donate/ Background music: Energy, Bensound, http://www.bensound.com Office sof...
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How to create a budget in LibreOffice Calc
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LibreOffice Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux, Mac
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android

Frequently Asked Questions

LibreOffice is a free and open-source Office Suite from The Document Foundation, presented as the successor to OpenOffice.org. The suite includes Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula editing).

LibreOffice starts at $0.

Microsoft 365, ONLYOFFICE Docs, and Google Workspace are common alternatives for LibreOffice.

Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 7.3.

The most common users of LibreOffice are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(130)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

LibreOffice has gained popularity among users and organizations as a cost-effective alternative to Microsoft Office. Its functional compatibility with Microsoft Office allows users to seamlessly open and export files, making the transition smooth. With its simple and user-friendly interface, average users find it easy to navigate and access its features. Many reviewers have used LibreOffice for various tasks such as writing manuscripts, solving complex calculations, and creating high-quality presentations.

LibreOffice is particularly useful in mixed Windows/Mac/Linux environments for internal collaboration and document management. Users appreciate that it is free to download, eliminating the need for costly upgrades and version compatibility. The software is commonly used for word processing, spreadsheet creation, and even database functions. It has been relied upon by individuals, students, and organizations for over a decade, demonstrating its reliability and longevity.

The compatibility of LibreOffice with various file formats is highly valued by users, allowing for easy document sharing and collaboration. It is also praised for its ability to handle tasks such as data tracking, inventory management, and creating signs in retail stores. Whether in business or personal settings, LibreOffice has become a default tool for document creation. Reviewers appreciate the considerable cost savings provided by LibreOffice compared to commercial document creation software.

With its support of the open-source community and compatibility across different platforms, many users choose LibreOffice over proprietary office suites like Microsoft Office. Its stability, reliability, and versatility make it suitable for producing various types of documents. Businesses and individuals who don't require the full Microsoft Office suite can benefit from using LibreOffice. Reviewers express their commitment to continue using and supporting LibreOffice through donations.

Clear and well-defined styles: Users have stated that Writer, the word processing software in LibreOffice, is very good at defining styles for paragraphs, characters, tables, pages, etc. This concept is clearer than in MS Office, making it easier to write documents with well-defined styles. This feature has been beneficial for future changes to the document.

High-quality typographical features: Many reviewers appreciate the typographical features of Writer when using supported OpenType fonts. They feel that these features make it easier to produce high-quality documents that are almost desktop publishing quality. Features such as kerning and ligatures enhance the overall appearance of the documents.

Convenient PDF export feature: A significant number of users have highlighted the embedded PDF export feature in Writer. They find it complemented by a lot of useful features and makes it convenient to export documents as PDFs without the need for additional tools. This simplifies sharing and ensures compatibility across different devices and platforms.

Consolidated Macro Recording in Calc: Several users have found the Macro recording feature in Calc lacking compared to MS Excel, making it difficult to use and limiting their ability to automate tasks effectively.

Compatibility Challenges and Complex Syntax in Basic: Users have experienced incompatibility and a more difficult syntax of Basic in Calc compared to Excel, resulting in frustration and decreased productivity.

Lack of Comprehensive Tutorials for Calc: Many reviewers have noted that tutorials for achieving various tasks are written for Excel only and cannot be reused for Calc. This lack of resources makes it challenging for users to find appropriate guidance, hindering their proficiency with the software.

Users highly recommend using LibreOffice as a free alternative to Microsoft Office, particularly for small ventures or businesses. They praise its compatibility across different operating systems and consider it a great substitution for other office suites. LibreOffice's word processing and spreadsheet functionalities are highly recommended for creating documents and PDF publishing, while users suggest exploring alternatives for database management. Despite concerns about support and community, LibreOffice is highly recommended for users in various domains, be it professional, academic, or personal.

Users particularly favor LibreOffice for companies or startups with limited budgets who cannot afford expensive office suites. While they recommend sticking to Microsoft Office if feasible, they see LibreOffice as a low-cost and relatively effective option. However, they caution about minor compatibility issues but recommend using LibreOffice for reading, writing, saving, and opening MS Word documents, as well as for college students and editing documents. Writer, the word processor in LibreOffice, is considered style-based and easier to use than Word. For office tasks beyond database management, LibreOffice is deemed perfect. However, it may not fulfill all needs when creating PowerPoint presentations.

Users recommend utilizing LibreOffice when working with Linux-based operating systems. While it may not have all the features of Microsoft Office, it is still regarded as a great free alternative. Some caution that it may lack user-friendliness compared to paid options. As a cost-effective alternative to proprietary licenses, especially for business tasks, LibreOffice receives high recommendations from users. Its ease of use caters to both non-technical and new users alike.

Users highly recommend giving LibreOffice a try to save money but advise planning accordingly because while it is free and powerful, certain limitations should be taken into account. Overall, users see LibreOffice as an excellent open-source alternative to Microsoft Office that won't disappoint if given a chance. It is recommended for various office tasks unless group presentations require PowerPoint or preferred software by teammates. Users find it surprisingly efficient with almost all the same options as Word and suggest comparing it with OpenOffice for desired features. In conclusion, users recommend using LibreOffice and believe it will be well-liked.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-13 of 13)
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Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
LibreOffice fills in the gaps where I need a spreadsheet and/or word processor which are fully compatible with other file formats current in the industry. Unlike Microsoft, I can easily just setup LibreOffice on a computer without paying a cent and get users going with this quickly and easily. I really appreciate the work that has gone into LibreOffice as a cohesive system.
  • spreadsheet
  • wordprocessor
  • presentation
  • Presentations format is not fully 100% MS compatible
  • Importing MS Word documents is very very close but not perfect
LibreOffice works perfectly for the type of situation it was designed for: desktop, offline office tools. It should be noted that it does not specifically do things the way MS 365 or Google Docs does: it does not utilize the internet and make things available like that to others who are collaborating. I think the whole store-and-edit-on-the-internet ideology is overrated and more gimmicky than having a shared folder and users who can edit documents. I see GDocs and 365 as security breaches at best and nefarious at worst.
Karambir Singh Khalsa | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I am the only employee at a small nonprofit. I have been using LibreOffice back since it was OpenOffice. I need something that is affordable or ideally free so LibreOffice meets our price point. I mostly need a word processor and occasionally something to make presentations. I use Google Sheets primarily for spreadsheets mostly due to it's programmability and online integration with other tools.
  • It's free.
  • It's a full-featured office productivity suite.
  • The various applications are able to import and export documents in a variety of well-known formats.
  • Name brand office suites vendors such as Microsoft and Google have online portals where documents can be saved and shared for automation/integration. LibreOffice would do well to expand into this space.
  • Memory handling in large spreadsheets (i.e., 60k rows or more) seems a bit quirky on my Macbook Air. It might just be a memory issues, but scrolling with the trackpad behaves strangely (i.e., cell selection jumps around unexpectedly).
The fact that it is free of charge for desktop use sets LibreOffice at the top of my list. Given our low software budget, and its feature set which is for all intents and purposes equivalent to big name brands, it is more than appropriate for our needs. I have noticed in some situations that exporting a spreadsheet in a particular format on my machine and then sharing it with someone who is using say Microsoft Excel results in unexpected behavior (i.e., formatting issues or unreadable data).
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
It is used by my whole organization. I use it as my primary source for office applications usage.
  • It's comparable to MS Office suites.
  • MS Office documents are compatible.
  • Better than Google Docs.
  • It doesn't provide all the functions it should with a paid subscription.
  • There are features that are only available with Premium and I have premium and they are still not available.
  • Paying for the premium version doesn't provide additional services than free version
  • Customer service is nonresponsive and has been nonresponsive for years even prior to COVID.
LibreOffice is a good alternative to MS Office. I like it better than Google Docs. It's compatible with MS Office applications.

However, many of the features or functions are difficult to find even when utilizing the help menu. The website isn't too helpful either. My greatest disappointment is that I paid for the premium version a year ago but never received the features that were supposed to be available with a premium subscription. The upper right-hand corner of the app shows the subscription type and date of expiration of the subscription. I have premium yet every time I try to access a premium feature it requests me to pay. I have contacted LibreOffice several times over the year and they never responded or provided a refund. I can only recommend the free version because even with a premium subscription, which mine is supposed to expire on 10/22/21 (the date of this review is 08/04/21), I have yet to be able to utilize the premium features I paid for last year. I would not use this as my primary app for Word processing which is where I am experiencing the majority of the blocked features issues. Even with a paid premium subscription, I am unable to create labels. It's asking me to pay again. I think LibreOffice has greater potential but a user must get the features they paid for. I hesitate to call the company a scam but I can say I have contacted LibreOffice numerous times over the past year about the ongoing issues and have not received a response at least once. Along with the features and subscriptions issues that needed to be addressed, another area of improvement is their website. It is very difficult to locate information. Even when using the search field the instructions often do not match the app. I am not sure how often they update their online guides but I have never found it to be helpful. I have also found it very difficult to impossible to download templates. I usually get weird links with garbled codes and no template when trying to download a template. I'm not sure if it's an issue with their site or not but since they don't respond to inquiries I cannot determine a possible cause for the problem.

Robert Gephart | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
LIbreOffice is our default word processor/spreadsheet/presentation software. It has replaced MS Office and it is more resilient than Google Docs. It is a full-featured product that works.
  • It is free.
  • It works with all MS Office files.
  • It is a full-featured desktop solution. No internet connection required to use.
  • Excel macros are not supported.
  • You need to get used to it. While it operates like Office, some of the icons/locations of items are different.
  • It runs like Office 2003, not Office 365.
It is well suited to someone who is looking for software to replace MS Office without a subscription or fee. As long as you are not a heavy user or someone who constantly interfaces with a large organization that uses Microsoft products, LibreOffice is a great product.
Jacob Wall | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use LibreOffice to fill in any holes left by the Microsoft Office Suite licenses we purchase. For example:
  • LibreOffice has a Draw program that allows you to make diagrams and flowcharts - a feature missing from the Microsoft Office Suite.
  • Also, for laptops that are used only occasionally, where office applications are seldom used, it's not worth purchasing a license, so we install LibreOffice.
  • Likewise, for hosting servers, where Remote App users do not need to use a word processor, but may need to occasionally open or view an attachment, LibreOffice meets this occasional usage.
  • It also provides an excellent and full office suite while working from home for staff that may not otherwise need to purchase Microsoft Office.
  • Full Featured - Just about everything you can get in a purchased office suite is available - word processor, spreadsheet, slides, drawing, database.
  • The Draw program provides features that you may not find elsewhere (at least not easily) - e.g. flowcharts with arrows that automatically connect to boxes, following smooth lines.
  • Follows industry standards - e.g. the spreadsheet uses the same formulas you'd be used to from Excel.
  • Compatible - Easily open and edit documents from Microsoft suite; save in all the usual file formats, with good formatting. (i.e. It won't look skewed when you send it to others. There are small issues with editing existing slides from PowerPoint, but these are minor.)
  • Editing PDFs - Word will not let you do this. For small-scale edits, LibreOffice Draw works great.
  • Maintained actively with frequent and useful updates.
  • The menus are outdated; while it's full featured, some tools are buried within dialogs that you'd have to find under sub-sub-menus, etc.
  • It's not online. The current way of collaboration is online apps like Google Docs. This makes collaboration less convenient.
  • It can give a poor impression if it becomes visible to clients or other stakeholders; this isn't a flaw with the suite itself, but often impression matters.
For business usage, it is most appropriate to use as I've described - filling holes left by the main/purchased Office suite - e.g. on seldom used laptops, on servers, etc. This is not due to any flaws, but mostly impression.

It's also very useful for working at home if you need to edit documents on your own machine, but not often enough to merit purchasing an Office suite.

It would be less appropriate as a full-time Office suite used often each day in a professional environment, or where online collaboration is needed.
Christopher Boyd | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
LibreOffice was reviewed within my company as a possible replacement to Office 365 (namely the desktop applications Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). Whereas LibreOffice is an excellent program, ranking well above applications like Google Docs, it still isn't exactly a pop-in replacement for Microsoft Office. My disclaimer here is that I found LibreOffice to be excellent and would very much enjoy using it, if only it had an Outlook and OneNote application, or at least integrated with replacements for those smoothly elsewhere. Alas, the world of open source can be a little too open sometimes.

The aim was to replace Microsoft Office and not have to rely on Google Docs. We initially found LibreOffice to be very easy to use and incredibly user-friendly. The problems came when we needed (see: expected) to be able to just swap out Word or Excel for Writer or Calc. The default font settings, for example, are not the same between Word, Writer, and Google Docs. This led to confusion among users, despite it being configurable. We then had issues with the way Calc works versus Excel, and transitioning our spreadsheets over would have required reworking several of our formulas in large documents.

We ultimately didn't make the switch to LibreOffice due to the learning curve and nuances but are intending to review it again.
  • It's free, which is the biggest difference between Office. It definitely feels like a full-fledged office suite of software for no more than the cost of an optional donation.
  • Lots of templates exist out on the internet for Writer and Impress (the Word and PowerPoint equivalents in LibreOffice). The open source community really likes to support one another in their usage of each other's software.
  • It works smoothly on almost every OS out there, including Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
  • It's a step up from Google Docs, but it doesn't quite reach the heights of Microsoft Office. This might simply be because if you grew up using Microsoft Office, the nuances add up spread across the multiple pieces of software.
  • There is no Outlook or OneNote equivalent in the LibreOffice suite. They recommend some alternative apps, and you can find suggestions on the internet, but nothing works or integrates as smoothly as the entire Microsoft Office Suite does.
  • Though lots of templates exist, it's clear that this software is mostly supported by developers and Linux users, which doesn't number a lot of graphic designers in comparison to MacOS or Windows.
If you are working in a Linux environment, then LibreOffice is an excellent choice for you, if not the best choice.

If you don't need to collaborate with people often or the documents you are working on don't need to adhere to strict style guidelines, then you really can't beat the quality for the price (free) of LibreOffice.

However, don't expect the fluidity or integration choices you have with Microsoft Office or Google Docs. LibreOffice is built as standalone software, and whereas tools, apps, and workarounds exist, if you are used to the bells and whistles of the other office suites out there, then LibreOffice will require some patience and extra work.
Jesús Noehi Posada Navarro | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use LibreOffice across the whole organization. Thanks to being free, it helps you to save money without losing any functionality while working with all kinds of Office files, like Docs or Sheets for example, which we use on a daily basis.
  • Full compatibility with other Office suites, thus avoiding any problem derived of compatibility issues.
  • You can get it for free from its website. This way you can save money!
  • Allows you to add more features using extensions that can be found on the internet
  • Thanks to being open source, it has a great and big community behind fixing problems and updated the suite.
  • It would be good update the UI for a more modern one, it wont make It work worse, but it's a bit dated.
  • Sometimes it consume more system resources than I would like, they can improve in this.
  • The Sheets function needs an update to make it more intuitive to use for people not used to work with Sheets
If you need to work with docs and sheets it will work great, but with presentations it can be a bit confusing if you are not used to working with them.
Igor Neumann | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I currently have Microsoft Office and LibrefOfice installed in my computer and use LibreOffice way more often for a couple of reasons... Mainly my job requires me to manipulate .csv files and Excel does a very poor job of opening it (it always assumes the delimiter character is ";" while I never saw it being used in my life, everyone - and their dogs - use "," as a delimiter), so you need to rename it to .txt in order for Excel to ask you), while LibreOffice always open it correctly. The other reason is its interface. Call me a dinosaur, but I'm still not a fan of the "ribbon" interface of MS Office, while LibreOffice's interface resemble the "legacy" (pre 2003) MS office interface.
The only program that I still prefer the MS option for is for presentations, but I still find PowerPoint BAD, so LibreOffice's Impress is even worse. (For context sake, I'm a designer used to Adobe Creative Cloud programs so it's natural to feel limited by presentation programs.) Im currently testing other alternatives for that.
Apart from that, LibreOffice offers some programs that are way superior to MS Office's options such as "Draw" (way better than Visio), its equation editor "Math" (way better than MS Office equation editor) and "Charts". So basically LibreOffice made most of its programs "as- ood" as MS alternatives (except Impress) and took some small MS Office features (Visio/equation editor/charts) and made them into full features programs as differential.

It does miss a key feature though... the CLOUD.

If you don't use Office365 Cloud features, PowerPoint isn't your main application, and aren't in love with the MS ribbon interface, LibreOffice is likely an as good (or better) option for you.
  • Work with CSV files (MS is reeeeally bad at this and it's very important for my job).
  • Diagrams.
  • Formulas.
  • Its interface (but hey, its a question of taste on this one).
  • Format compatibility (they use Open Document Format, NOT a proprietary format as MS and are fully compatible with MS ones).
  • Impress, I'm very unimpressed by it! (see what I did there?)
  • But to be fair, I also consider MS Office's alternative BAD. (from a designer's standpoint)
  • Cloud Integration (that could be a deal-breaker for O365 users).
  • It could be prettier (its UI feels dated, but please don't copy the Ribbon interface).
Very well suited to edit CSV files, its text editor and spreadsheet editor are top notch, less appropriate if you use/need cloud integration to share (or edit) a document between many users, also its presentation program is really lacking, so it's a great suite for the "usual" office user, with text editor and spreadsheets as its main programs, but wouldn't recommend it as a presentation software nor for shared documents, you can have way better options on the cloud (Google? Microsoft? Zoho?) and also some specific presentation programs (Focusky, Prezi).
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I have used LibreOffice throughout my undergraduate degree, and later as the main offline office productivity suite on my Linux desktop. LibreOffice is a free and open-source office suite that includes applications for spreadsheet creation, word processing, presentations and database design. I use it to read documents, prepare presentations, and edit invoices.
  • Free to use, includes many core office applications including CAD
  • Relatively mature offerings and full featured software; applications such as Calc and Writer support macro functionality
  • Easy to get started with using if you're familiar with older versions of the Microsoft Office suite
  • Stability of the applications is a concern. It has improved over the years but expect at least a couple of crashes a month in Writer or Calc.
  • Does not support VBA scripts if importing documents from Microsoft Office
  • Weird formatting and rendering inconsistencies with switching between file formats or importing from MS Office.
LibreOffice is your best bet if you appreciate working on documents offline and want to keep storing them locally. It is perfect for students. For Linux systems it's one of the best native offerings you'll get, short of spinning up a Windows virtual machine and paying for a MS Office suite license. A bit more effort will be required if you want to create Word documents or presentations that look slick, professional, and modern - so if presentation and time are important to you, go for other office suites instead. LibreOffice is free, so there's no harm in trying it out and seeing if it's sufficient for your needs.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I choose to use LibreOffice because of a few reasons. I like to support the Open-Source Community - yes LibreOffice is free. You can however make a donation to the project if you choose to show support for their efforts in continuing the project and making it better and better. I also like LibreOffice because it works across platforms. It will run Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. I use Windows and Linux both and they have the same product on both platforms; [this] is a big plus to me. For mobile devices, it is my understanding that they have a viewer for Android and the ability to edit on Android is still an experimental feature. Hope to see a full Android version someday. So, if you like LibreOffice and want to see it more robust on mobile devices, I would suggest letting them know and by making a donation for supporting the efforts.
  • LibreOffice is a full suite of office use solutions. Those include: Writer (to work with documents - .doc, docx, and even .pdf). Calc which is a full-featured spreadsheet tool, Impress which is to do presentations and slideshows, Draw which is as it sounds - a drawing tool, Math for working with formulas, and Base which is for working with databases.
  • There are templates for a number of items that you may need to create from time to time.
  • It works well with most items created in Microsoft Office and the other way around.
  • There a number of extensions that can be installed to be used to make it work for a specific purpose. Such as Code Highlighter so that code will be colored based on the syntax. I believe that plugins support some 350 or so programming languages. This is just one of the many extensions available. I just happen to like this one personally.
  • When saving a Word file (document) you have to be careful to save it as an MS Word DOCX file or it will by default save it as an ODT file.
  • I would like Draw to be more feature rich. But, for documents, it is very sufficient. So, I guess I can't expect it to be PhotoShop, since that it not its real purpose. But, some of those types of features sure would not be frowned upon :)
It quite simply, in my opinion, the best open-source office suite out there. It will perform most all of your tasks you need to do on a daily basis.
Linda Sasenick | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use LibreOffice for all of our word processing and spreadsheet needs, as a free, open-sourced substitute for Microsoft Office. It also offers a full "suite" of services, including presentations, drawing, and database, and most importantly, we've had very few problems converting from and to other vendors' formats with LibreOffice. For us, it is a low cost (free!) solution for written communications, data management (we primarily use the spreadsheet), and other spreadsheet functions.
  • LibreOffice does a remarkably good job of converting files in other vendors' formats, generally with little loss of function or format (e.g., opening and manipulating other .doc or .docx files from Microsoft Office).
  • Just because it's free doesn't mean its functionality is limited! I can't think of any Office function or feature which isn't also available from LibreOffice.
  • Have a variety of users, devices and operating systems? No problem, LibreOffice is a "cross-platform" suite, available for Linux, Windows, Mac, tablets and Androids.
  • There are some quirks, and finding the solution isn't always easy. For example, spreadsheet files in CSV format can be tricky to open if specifics about the "delimiter" (tab, comma, etc.) are provided in detail. I've had to play "guess the delimiter" and use trial and error to open a number of popular CSV export formats (particularly when exporting/importing contacts between programs).
  • LibreOffice's extended functionality is expanded by "extensions," however, some of these extensions either fail in the installation or don't work (in particular, the grammar extension).
  • It's a minor thing, but it would be great if the spell check would prompt with the correct spelling, instead of just the red underline.
LibreOffice is by far, from my experience, the best, budget-friendly (free!) office suite out there, well-suited for any business with "average" written communication, presentation and data management needs (again, a working grammar check function is something that needs improvement). If your work requires highly individualized or specialized functions -- such as custom fonts -- or if you commonly download or exchange complex and customized documents with others, I'd stick to whatever software is in common use for that application.
Martin Malec | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It is being used by whole organization and it is still being used as the main office suite. Recently we purchased Office 365 and are gradually moving to MS Office being part of the O365 subscription. But anyway in the last 4 years the whole organization was using almost exclusively the LibreOffice suite, most of the company's documents are saved in OpenDocument format (.ods, .odt etc.) and these files tend be difficult to be converted to MS Office formats. LibreOffice is being used as a text editor (Writer) and table processor (Calc) mostly, with only exceptional use of Impress for presentations and Base for connecting to a MySQL database and doing some edits there via forms.
  • Writer is very good at defining styles for paragraphs, characters, tables, pages etc., and this concept is more clear than in MS Office. Writing a document with well-defined styles makes it easier for future changes.
  • Good typographical features of Writer when using supported OpenType fonts such as kerning and ligatures make it easier to produce almost-DTP-quality documents. Embedded PDF export with a lot of features complements this really well.
  • Both Writer and Calc support doing elegant operations using regular expressions for example for a sophisticated find and replace, or in Calc in formulas.
  • The Office suite is perfectly cross-platform and has binaries available for all three major desktop operating systems: Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux. Native support for Linux allows working in a mixed environment with zero compatibility issues. Lack of support of MS Office on Linux makes it complicated to collaborate between Win/Mac users and Linux users if one party repeatedly saves and opens the document in MS Office and the second one in LibreOffice, creating compatibility issues all the time.
  • Calc lacks Macro recording feature, or has it in an unusable state, compared to a very useful Macro recorder in MS Excel.
  • Incompatibility and a more difficult syntax of Basic especially useful in Calc. Writing the same macro in Excel is much easier than in Calc and converting macros from Excel to Calc or vise versa is complicated if not impossible. Most tutorials on how to achieve various tasks are written for Excel only and cannot be reused for Calc.
  • Calc should add the feature of dynamic previews of Pivot tables, instead of the need to generate one, delete it and try another time if the settings were not perfect. Excel shows the example how this could be done. More users can start using Pivot tables if the barrier to understand the concept is lowered.
  • There should be much more visually reasonable formatting templates for Calc tables. The current list is absolutely impractical and visually very suboptimal. Several colours, odd/even stripes should be added, as Google Sheets or MS Excel has.
Individuals who need to make some nice text documents, easier tables without macros, or presentations, should use LibreOffice instead of buying or subscribing to commercial office suites, because it is mostly a waste of money in such scenarios. Libreoffice can do 90% of tasks perfectly for most home users. Even smaller companies that don't absolutely require the functionalities of Excel (mostly macros, dynamic pivot tables, PowerPivot etc.) could save a lot of money by using Libreoffice.

Power users that know very well recent versions of MS Office and rely on some of its advanced features may, however, find LibreOffice subpar and their productivity may go down when trying to use Libreoffice and re-learn how to achieve the results they already know how to achieve in their former office suite. Then it may not be a good idea to spend this time to re-learn to this new office suite.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We deploy LibreOffice to dozens of users that don't need a full, paid office suite and just need the basic functionality. If someone does not need the full MS Office suite LibreOffice is a great alternative and at a great price. Even businesses that don't need the full MS Suite or Outlook, in particular, can benefit from LibreOffice.
  • Low cost
  • Ease of use
  • Universal compatibility
  • More name recognition
It's well suited for home users that don't need a business office suite.
It's less suited for someone who needs MS Outlook specifically.
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